The average wage is a measure for the financial well-being of a country's inhabitants. A similar measure is GDP per capita. However, GDP (on the income side) = compensation of employees + gross operating surplus/mixed income + taxes on production - subsidies. This way, various components increase the GDP that are not directly contributing to the well-being of citizens. In particular, the gross operating surplus consists of corporate profits, which is money that companies save, reinvest, or pay to their shareholders in the form of dividends (who may be located outside the country). Even in the case of reinvestment, much of the money moves offshore, especially with larger multi-national companies. In order to measure the part of the income generated by the domestic economy that is actually earned by the employees, it is better to break down the GDP to its components and consider only wages and salaries.

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The data presented represents full-time average annual gross wages and salaries in the entire economy. The figure is derived by taking the national accounts aggregate of wages and salaries, dividing them by the national accounts aggregate for average employment, and multiplying by the ratio of average weekly working hours per full-time employee to average weekly working hours for all employees. The calculations were made by the OECD.[1] Wages and salaries are a component of the GDP on the income side.

Since PPP conversion is a universally accepted way to compare income (including wages), the data listed are in PPPs (for private consumption).[citation needed]